How on earth do you drudge through the literature? I guess a good number of people read the abstracts and skim for interesting figures. A few others hone their area of interest into such a tiny corner that they can actually be completely up to date (in, say, VHL and HIF1alpha interactions in hypoxic conditions in HeLa cells under 10% FBS concentration, or whatever).
But where is the fun in that? As someone who got interested in science because it was just, so damn cool, I don't want to give up that connection to the broader picture. I'm not particularly interested in participating in the construction of my very own, brand new pigeon hole. I can see the wooden outlines now: using sequencing technology for subtyping of malignant melanoma in a clinical setting using gene list X. I will know everything about how to use sequencing technology Y to look at melanoma genes X in patient group Z. I mean I will be able to take the kids to school with my most scholarly, mind numbingly in depth knowledge of XYZ. But I will have forgotten the wider goal, the bigger picture. I will have specialized in the war of 1812 only to find that World War-Eleventy-Two is raging on without me.
Solutions? Google Reader sure seems like a good shot at trying to stay mildly up to date. Even there I get ruggedly behind. What I really need is a second brain that can sift through all the sludge to find those nuggets of thrilling wisdom. Anyone know where I can get one of those?
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